Snake Plissken's LIFECLOCK ONE from Escape from NY
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THE LIFECLOCK ONE
The Lifeclock One is a fully licensed reboot of Snake Plissken’s watch prop from Escape From New York™, but with a twist. It’s a countdown timer of course, but it also tells the time and date, and best of all — it pairs with your iOS or Android device to push notifications from your favorite apps, as well as notify you of incoming calls and text message alerts. You also get a stopwatch, access to up to 8 world clocks, control over your smartphone’s camera shutter, step counting, a compass, and customizable daily alarms.
A viewing of the movie back in 2014 sparked the idea to make the Lifeclock One. While watching the movie, creator Jonathan Zufi thought: “How cool would it be to have a real Snake Plissken countdown timer?” He knew that if he did it right, he could delight fans of the movie and perhaps other lovers of unique timepieces and awesome gadgets.
The watch in the movie wasn’t real — it was a prop with limited functionality. Referred to as a “digital wrist watch” in the original script, the watch was made up of an oven kitchen timer stuffed into a metal enclosure. According to a thread at The Replica Prop Forum: “The body was custom made. All of the hero parts were cast metal. I think that we made 1 or 2 plastic ones and 3 rubbers. It also had a ribbon cable about 2 inches wide coming off of each hero.”
Based on our research, for the close-up scenes where the watch is activated, the unit was powered by an external battery pack with wires hidden underneath Kurt’s arm. In all other shots of the watch, it was simply a shell with a plastic screen and a leather strap. So, the prop was just that — a prop. The Lifeclock One actually works. We decided to balance the watch portrayed in the movie with a practical, highly functional timepiece that also supports capabilities never considered back in 1981 (or 1997).
THE DISPLAYS
LEDs are everywhere. They’re in the alarm clocks next to our beds, in our televisions, and in our cars. And, in a world dominated by crisp new smartphone, tablet and TV displays (LCD, OLED, AMOLED) there is still one traditional type of LED display that continues to show up everywhere in modern day life — the tried and true seven segment LED. Even the watch that Snake wears uses standard seven segment LED displays.
When designing the Lifeclock One, we knew that we wanted to support rich notifications. The challenge with seven segment displays is that they aren’t very good at displaying certain characters (e.g. M, Z, etc.). So we decided to build our own.
The LEDs used inside the Lifeclock One are unique — they are completely custom eleven segment displays. So, to those who say this is just another LED watch, we say: No. This is a unique timepiece that is not only built to honor the spirit of an awesome movie, but to also introduce modern elements of design and experience.
THE APP
The Lifeclock One is a fully capable, standalone, modern smartwatch — with time, date, stopwatch, and world clocks — but it also pairs with your iOS or Android device to give you notifications for incoming calls, text messages, and push notifications from your favorite apps.
The Lifeclock One also supports firmware updates via Bluetooth. Any updates to your Lifeclock One can be simply and easily downloaded via your smartphone and applied to your watch.
The Lifeclock One app is available at both the Apple App Store and on Google Play, free of charge.
Velcro®
In the movie, Snake wears a leather strap with Velcro fasteners. Choosing this configuration allows you to follow the look of the prop very closely.
Buckle
For those looking for a more traditional option, the Lifeclock One can be ordered configured with a buckle system.
BACK ENGRAVING OPTIONS
The back of the Lifeclock One Snake Edition is available in either machined 316L stainless steel or, for those that have a nickel allergy, anodized aluminum. It comes decorated with a variety of designs, produced with an impact engraver, ensuring a clear and durable finish.
The default option features the official Escape From New York logo, but you can also select the USPF design by Marvel & DC Comics artist Matt Haley that is featured on the Gullfire Edition at no charge, or upgrade for a nominal fee to one of three unique designs that showcase an image of Snake Plissken or a map of the Manhattan Island Prison. We also offer the option to add a custom engraved, personalized message (50 characters maximum) on the EFNY logo version back at no charge. Your back selection and message can be specified at the time of purchase.
